M242 (25 mm)

Description

The M242 Bushmaster is a 25mm chain cannon used on various vehicles such as the Bradley series of IFVs and the ADATS.

The M242 (25 mm) on the ADATS.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• ADATS
• M3 Bradley
• M3A3 Bradley

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available ammunition

• Default: APDS · HEI-T*
• M792: HEI-T* · HEI-T* · HEI-T* · APDS
• M791: APDS · APDS · APDS · HEI-T*

• M919: APFSDS · APFSDS · APFSDS

Note: The M919 belt is only available to the M3A3 Bradley.

Penetration statistics
Belt	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Default	80	78	73	66	60	55
M792	80	78	73	66	60	55
M791	80	78	73	66	60	55
M919	101	100	95	88	81	74

Comparison with analogues

• 2A42 (30mm): A Russian autocannon with similar penetration and damage. Has a higher fire rate than the M242
• 2A72 (30mm): A Russian autocannon with similar penetration, damage and fire rate.
• Oerlikon KBA B02 (25 mm): A 25mm autocannon of the same caliber with a higher fire rate.
• MK 30-2/ABM (30 mm): A 30mm German Autocannon with a similar fire rate.

Usage in battles

The M242 Bushmaster can handle and defeat most of the opponents that it faces within its BR, though certain MBTs and heavy tanks will be difficult to defeat as the autocannon does not have enough penetration to effectively kill these heavy tanks. Usually flanking maneuvers are required as most Main Battle Tanks at this tier lack in side armor, where the M242 can easily punch through the armor, though certain MBTs such as the Leopard 1 can be penetrated from the front. Be aware of Russian Main Battle Tanks as they have up to 80mm of side armor, where the M242 cannot penetrate the side unless you have M919 APFSDS, which is only available on the M3A3 Bradley. The M242 can also defeat air targets as well, although due to the low fire rate of 200 RPMs, defeating jets are going to be difficult from their high speed. The ADATS does have a modified M242, where it can fire at 500 RPMs and having a slightly easier time killing jets. Defeating helicopters are easier though as they aren't that fast, and easy to kill if they're going on the attack run in the battlefield.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Access to APFSDS with the M3A3.
• Decent penetration.
• Decent damage.

• High fire rate. (ADATS only)
• High ammo count

Cons:

• Slow fire rate compared to other autocannons.
• Tends to overheat easily

History

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Media

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See also

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• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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USA tank cannons
20 mm	M139
25 mm	LW25 · M242
37 mm	M3 · M5 · M6
57 mm	M1
75 mm	M2 · M2 Howitzer · M3 · M6 · M1897A4 · XM274
76 mm	M1 · M7 · M32 · T185E1
90 mm	M3 · M3A1 · M36 · M41 · M54 · T15E1 · T15E2 · T54 · T208E9
105 mm	M4 · M68 · M68A1 · M68A1E8 · T5E1 · T5E2 · T140E2 · T140E3 · XM35
106 mm	M40A1C
120 mm	M58 · M256 · T53
152 mm	M81 · M162 · XM150E5
155 mm	M185 · T7
165 mm	M135
	Foreign:
20 mm	Rh202 (Germany)
57 mm	6pdr OQF Mk.III (Britain) · ZIS-2 (USSR)
105 mm	Sharir (Israel)
120 mm	IMI MG251 (Israel)